Goa will have to wait bit longer for Kashmiri apples

Goa will have to wait bit longer for Kashmiri apples
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, AUG 30
Goans may have to wait for few more months to taste the delicious apples, which the Goa State Horticulture Corporation was to exclusively import from the scenic valley of Kashmir.
Thanks to the social unrest in the extraordinarily beautiful valley that has played a spoilsport.
GSHC Chairman Sankalp Amonkar admits that the violence in the valley has stalled their venture, but he is determined to resume the project in the coming months.
“Yes, this is one of the reasons why we have (delayed) the import…We have other markets at Himachal Pradesh but as far as quality is concerned, Kashmir beats all other state apples. We wish to import Kashmiri apples by November or December depending on the situation there,” the chairman replied to a question on the delay.
Had not the valley faced such crisis, the Corporation would have sourced Kashmiri apples and sold them through its outlets by now.
Kashmiri apples — known for their sweetness, nutrition and colour — have already forayed into the Indian market. The mouth-watering apples magnetized Goa, as well and, in 2009 GSHC imported two truck loads of the ‘delicious red’ and ‘golden’ apples from the cold region.
While, one load was successfully sold out through its 250 outlets across Goa, the second load suffered Goa’s humid climate bearing a loss of Rs 66,000 of the total 1.80-lakh the Corporation spent on the import. 
The non-availability of a proper cold-storage is also hindering GSHC from importing not just apples but other fruits, as well. Nonetheless, Amonkar asserted that the cold-storage located at Panjim market would be functional in a month.
Meanwhile, the Corporation has already roped in about 12 apple growers from Kashmir, with whom the team officials deliberated during their last visit to Kashmir.
Now since the GSHC has intended a full-fledged import, after a partially successful trial, it will initially import three to four tones of Kashmiri apples per day. Depending on the demand among locals, the Chairman said, they will mount the import to about hundred tones, which will be sold at subsidized rates at all their outlets.
At the same time, GSHC has also planned importing fruits such as bananas, oranges, sweet lime and other seasonal fruits from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
“We are waiting for the cold storage to become fully functional and equipped so that we can store the imported fruits for days together even as maintaining its freshness,” he said.
Interestingly, the Corporation has decided to introduce separate outlets to exclusively sell these fruits.